A bus from an international passenger transport company en route to Malanville, on the Benin-Niger border, fell into a river in the center of the country on the night of Saturday, August 16, to Sunday, August 17, 250 kilometers north of Cotonou. The bus was carrying 54 people, according to the Minister of the Interior. One body was recovered, nine passengers managed to escape alive, and 44 passengers remain missing.

The STM bus had departed from Lomé, Togo, for Malanville, in northern Benin. After its spectacular fall, the coach disappeared completely beneath the waters of the Ouémé River. The Beninese government has activated the ORSEC plan to provide assistance and rescue, explains our correspondent in Cotonou, Jean-Luc Aplogan.

Aside from the nine survivors and the body recovered in the morning, by late Sunday afternoon, August 17, there was no news of 44 missing people, according to official figures. The mobilized divers located the wreckage of the bus fairly quickly. A crane arrived to attempt to pull it from the water. The maneuver was laborious, and another specialized machine was called in for reinforcement. As of 6 p.m. (local time), rescuers had still not managed to recover the bus.

Regarding the circumstances, the government is citing a loss of control. The accident occurred around midnight on Saturday night on Interstate 2. Images show that the bridge's metal guardrail was violently struck and torn off for several meters.

Despite the government's recess, President Patrice Talon dispatched ministers, senior police officers, and firefighters to the scene of the tragedy. The government expresses its compassion to the victims' families and its solidarity with the survivors. Emergency services are still on site, with the goal of pulling the bus wreckage from the water. The families of the missing are just waiting for that.